Business Information and Credit Management Company Metropol Corporation has launched Metropol TV, the first Kenyan 24-hour business news channel with a programming mix spanning news, features, talk shows and incisive analysis of business trends and investment opportunities across the country and East Africa.

The station, currently broadcasting as free to air comes as demand for targeted and bespoke information among investors grows with Metropol Corporation looking at packaging the repository of information it has collected over the years through the TV.

“At Metropol Corporation, we have a comprehensive database on companies, macroeconomics, sectors, industries and investment opportunities that we is vital in impacting investment decisions and that is why we are excited today to launch Metropol TV which will be one of the vehicles through which we hope to tap into to turn data into cents and empower economic decisions,” said Sam Omukoko Group Managing Director of Metropol Corporation during the launch held at Radisson Blu.

Chief Guest at the launch Jerome Ochieng, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology welcomed the launch of saying Metropol TV offered a new frontier for investors and young people in maximizing utilities while contributing to the economic growth of the country and region. “The emergence of strong and independent TV stations in the country such as Metropol TV is a testament of the dividends gained by the liberalization of media industry and subsequent digital migration,” he said.

Ms. Terryanne Chebet, Metropol TV General Manager said Metropol TV offered new dawn and a breath of fresh air to business reporting in the country: “Business Journalism has grown beyond those 5 minute segments we were used to as demand for information rises. We are launching Metropol TV and we hope to deliver business news that will empower our audiences to make sound economic decisions. Through our programming, young people will get new heroes, like wealth creators, entrepreneurs and people of integrity.”

Metropol Corporation also launched The Harvest, a web based terminal targeting individual and institutional investors with a rich repository of information across sectors, industries, companies and markets which the company says will be crucial in influencing investment, consumption and production decisions.

Key components of the terminal include a share analyzer that provides details of companies share performances and earnings and a portfolio analyzer that allows investors to measure portfolio balance and compare returns in the event that they own shares from different companies.

The terminal which is currently on trial and will officially be unveiled in May will be available on subscription.

“While the TV is meant to disseminate all this information, we have also introduced the harvest terminal to complement what goes on in TV and because we understand that there is so much information which cannot be all be aired on TV but which is equally important for the investors. The terminal will give investors access to this information,” Mr. Omukoko added.

Aly-Khan Satchu, the CEO of Rich Management reiterated the key role of data in driving economically informed decisions for every investor in the 21st century insisting that The Harvest terminal offered a ripe opportunity to meet this need. “Looking at the market, the most valuable currency today is timely and accurate data. There is space for Bloomberg for Africa and we hope that The Harvest will be as ubiquitous as the Bloomberg channel,” he said